Tire plugs: DIY or tire shop?

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted by FordBroncoVWJeta
I said that ive seen A LOT of failed attempts at fixing leaks with those things. Then the customer gets mad when the shop won't touch them.
I was not aware that it was a big deal, that changes things.
Originally Posted by FordBroncoVWJeta
What if a customer doesn't mile out a tire before the rust problem? Tire separates on the interstate and kills the family? No Thanks.
The family steed would obviously mile out it's tires before they rusted, especially if it spends a significant amount of time on the highway. Maybe this is an actual reason for replacing your tires every seven years? If your tires are full o' plugs, you might not want to run them for the next decade.

 

[Eddie]

I will use a plug for a local driver but, not for my 75 MPH highway drive. I get the tire repaired at a dealer with an inside plug type for a highway driver. Ed

 

[Silverado12]

I have a Safety Seal plugging kit and the Safety Seal people say that this is a permanent repair using their self-vulcanizing plugs. FWIW I've only had one leak and that was because the belts separated in the tire from the puncture.

 

[RayCJ]

Originally Posted by Silverado12
I have a Safety Seal plugging kit and the Safety Seal people say that this is a permanent repair using their self-vulcanizing plugs. FWIW I've only had one leak and that was because the belts separated in the tire from the puncture.


I'm with you on this and first started using Safety Seal plugs in 1976-77 timeframe. For 6 years while working as a mechanic at a Texaco repair shop then later, a GM dealership, I repaired countless tires with Safety Seal plugs. Where I differ from you Silverado12 is that I never (to my knowledge) had a single one leak. Prior to when our shop started using SS plugs, we used traditional patches. Regular patches seemed to be hit-or-miss. I can't tell you how many tires I took apart, pulled off the leaking internal patch then plugged with a Safety Seal cord. Those plugs self-vulcanize and essentially become part of the tire.

All that said, if a tire has a simple puncture (nail, screw etc) it can be safely repaired if the puncture is on the flat/bottom part of the tire and not within about 1 inch from the edge of the sidewall. Tires that have elongated cut punctures (like from a flat piece of metal) are a total loss. When the hole is reamed and it feels like a direct hit to one of the steel belts, the tire is a loss. This applies to plugs and patches.

FWIW, every car I've owned and all the cars owned by my wife and children have picked-up nails/screws here and there. I repaired them with plugs. Collectively, we're way over a million miles and nobody has had an issue with a plug-repaired tire.

Ray

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by Silverado12
I have a Safety Seal plugging kit and the Safety Seal people say that this is a permanent repair using their self-vulcanizing plugs.

I've used many of them over the years.

 

[MrWideTires]

Been using regular plugs my whole life, in different countries, conditions, racing applications, cruising cross country at 200+kph... no issues.

Even done it right at the sidewall edge, where I came from they even vulcanize and repair sidewalls and we have much higher highway speeds.

imo Americans are too afraid of everything.. makes no sense, the country with lowest speeds is also afraid of plugging tires.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by MrWideTires
imo Americans are too afraid of everything.. makes no sense, the country with lowest speeds is also afraid of plugging tires.


Makes perfect sense. They're afraid of situations like the Firestone recall, don't want the liability from a failed tire. It's much harder to sue in foreign countries.

Plus they want to sell you a new tire.

That's why Goodyear fixes flats for free, I'm sure a certain percentage can't be fixed because they're in the wrong area so there's a certain chance that a repair will result in a tire sale. So maybe it costs them $5 to fix the tire, but maybe they can make $100-$800 on a replacement or a whole set of tires.